Madonna Sues Auction House to Block Sale of Tupac Letter

Madonna is suing bosses at a New York City auction house in a bid to prevent them selling her used underwear.

Auctioneers at Gotta Have Rock and Roll are planning to sell-off over 100 of the Material Girl singer's personal items, including a letter written to her from rapper ex-boyfriend Tupac Shakur while he was in jail, a hairbrush containing strands of her hair and even a pair of unwashed panties.

The online bidding war for her stuff is scheduled to kick off on Wednesday (July 19), but Madonna is keen to stop the auction and has launched a lawsuit, requesting an emergency order from the court to stop it.

“I became aware through media reports that there was a planned auction of extremely personal, private correspondence I received from a former boyfriend, the late recording artist and actor Tupac Shakur,” Madonna wrote in her affidavit. “I was shocked to learn of the planned auctioning of the Shakur Letter, as I had no idea that the Shakur Letter was no longer in my possession. I have never sold, gifted, transferred or otherwise disposed of the Shakur Letter.”

Madonna went on to reveal she suspects her former friend, art consultant Darlene Lutz, may have stolen the artefacts from her home.

“It seems obvious that Defendant Lutz betrayed my trust in an outrageous effort to obtain my possessions without my knowledge or consent and now attempts to profit by auctioning off my personal belongings and private communications to the general public in complete disregard of my rights, especially my right to privacy,” the 58-year-old fumes in documents filed on Tuesday (July 18).

Madonna's private photographs, unreleased recordings, correspondence and even a personal chequebook are also up for auction. At press time, a judge had yet to rule on whether the Gotta Have Rock and Roll sale can legally move forward.